Theft in the Kite Runner Essay Example

has with theft was when he was born. Amir was the child of Baba and his beautiful wife. Unfortunately, Amir’s mother died while giving birth to him. Although the death of Amir’s mother was not his fault, he uses it as a reason for Baba to resent him.

When Amir said, “I always felt like Baba hated me a little… After all, I had killed his beloved wire, his beautiful princess. ” (Hosseini20). Throughout the novel, it is very evident that Baba was strongly in love with his wife, and when she passed, it was very difficult for him emotionally. Baba has always had a disinterest in Amir since he was born because his wife was killed.. Throughout most of Amir’s life, he feels as if he is not good enough for Baba and that he cannot do anything right. Baba feels strongly that, “a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up for anything. (Hosseini 24).

He later goes on to explain how Hassan will stand up to the neighborhood bullies contrary to Amir who stands by and is too scared to act. The fact that Baba gave more attention to Hassan than Amir created tension and jealousy between them. During a kite-flying tournament, Hassan went to retrieve their kite after winning and encountered bullies who wanted their kite. Hassan would not let the bully, Assef take the kite, and was raped by him. Amir had been watching this happen and selfishly did not step in or tell anyone about what he saw.

Amir had what would be his last chance to show Baba that

he wasn’t a coward and that he could stand up for himself, but instead he chose to protect himself. Naturally, Amir does feel tremendous amount of guilt from what he did. However, Amir did not tell anyone about Hassan being raped and did not receive any punishment from anyone. Amir craved this discipline so he could have this lie come off of his shoulders. The only way for Amir to get out of this lie is for Hassan to leave. Amir took the watch and money that he received for his birthday, and planted it in Hassan’s mattress to make it look like Hassan stole it.

That night, Amir asks Baba if he had seen his new watch anywhere. The next morning, Ali, Hassan, Baba, and Amir meet in Baba’s study to discuss the missing items. Baba asked Hassan, “ Did you steal that money? Did you steal Amir’s watch, Hassan? ” Hassan replied, “Yes. ”(Hosseini 111) Even though Hassan did not steal those items from Amir, he still took the blame to protect Amir from the consequences. Hassan had told Ali about what happened to him, and on top of this incident, Ali decided that they would leave Kabul. Assef is the antagonist in The Kite Runner.

Assef was a Pashtun whose father was friends with Baba. He was very against Hazaras and Pashtuns becoming friends so he picked on and bullied Hassan and Amir for that reason. Assef had a mindset similar to Hitler’s in the sense that he wanted to eliminate a race of people: the Hazaras. Assef views the Hazara people as worthless so when he takes advantage of

Hassan, he feels no guilt because he does not think of him as human. One of Assef’s friends protests that raping someone is ‘sinful’ he replies saying, “there’s nothing sinful about teaching a lesson to a disrespectful… It’s just a Hazara. ”(Hosseini80).

Regardless of what Assef thought, Hassan was a person, and he lost his innocence when Assef raped him. This was illustrated when Amir describes Hassan’s face when he was being advantage of as, “the look of the lamb. ”(Hosseini81). Throughout the novel, he remains a character with no conscience or remorse. Assef was the type of character who needs to feel in power over and victimizes the weak links. Later on in the novel when Amir goes back to Afghanistan, he goes to a soccer game in hopes to find the Taliban soldier who had Sohrab. At this soccer game during half time, the Talibs brought out 2 people on the back of two trucks.

The Talib began to speak through the microphone, “We are here today to carry out justice…. How shall we answer those who throw stones at the windows of God’s house? We Shall Throw The Stones Back! ” (Hosseini283). The Taliban officials beat the two people to death with stones. Being apart of the Taliban brought forth a lot of hatred in Assef and allows him to steal the lives of innocent people based on their social class. Amir met with a Talib who turned out to be Assef. Assef brought in Sohrab and told Amir that he would have to fight to take Sohrab with him. Asset stole Sohrab’s innocence as well his fathers.

In

addition, he also stole Sohrab’s right to a safe childhood. Living amongst Taliban soldiers, you run the risk of being hurt of even killed if you upset them. Sohrab had gone through so much brutality from his parents being killed, being abused and now he has to move to another country with someone who has never met before. Theft, as Baba defines it, the only sin one can commit. Baba, throughout the novel commits many forms of theft and preaches this theory to Amir so he does not make the same mistakes. Baba always had a soft spot for Hassan, and Amir was jealous of that.

Due to Babas lack of interest in Amir, he was denying him of a father-son relationship. When he was speaking with Rahim Khan, he says, ”If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son. ” (Hosseini 25) Baba was too reoccupied discussing the things that he wanted the change about Amir that he didn’t stop and appreciate the son that he had. Baba was a very loyal man who stood up for what he believed in. This strong attitude allowed Baba to take chances in his life that could have robbed Amir of a father. This is shown when Amir and Baba are making their way to Pakistan to leave Afghanistan.

One of the Russian soldiers tell the driver that he wants to take a women in the truck in the back of the car for a half an hour and they will be able to pass. Baba stood up to the Russian on

behalf of the woman and said, “I’ll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place,” (Hosseini 122). Thoughts were going through Amir’s head, thinking, “Baba’s dead and now I have to bury him. Where do I bury him? Where do I go after that? ” (Hosseini 123). Baba will always stand for what is right, and will risk his life for a stranger’s life.

When Baba was young, his best friend Ali was married to a woman named Sanaubar. Baba had an affair with Sanaubar and gave birth to Hassan. The only people who knew about this was Baba, Rahim Khan and Amir. Baba withheld this information for his own benefit, so he would not damage his reputation. When Amir found out that Hassan was his ha brother, he said, “How could you hide this from me? ”(Hosseini235). Amir felt betrayed the most by Rahim Khan. Amir always looked to Rahim Khan for advice and he was like a father figure. Had Amir known this information, maybe he would have stopped Hassan from being raped, and respected him more.